Box-fastener.



PATBNTED 00T. 27, 1903. l

0..'W. BEBHLBR. B0X FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1903.

No MBEL.

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.n nnnnnnnnnnnnA doubled body. As originally produced the tto. Maese.

UNITED STATES Patented october 27, 190s.

PATENT @Emo-E.

CHARLES W. BEEHLER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURT.

BOX-FASTENER.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that CHARLES W. BEEHLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a fastener for securingvthe lids of shipping-boxes; and it consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my fastener looking at the interior of a box to which it is applied. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the box with the fastener shown in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a face View of the catch member of the fastener. Fig. 4 is a top View of the catch member as -it appears before its leg-arms are confined to furnish the spring action imparted to the member on applying it to the box to which it is secu red.

` A designates the front wall of a box provided with an orifice B, adapted to receive a rod or other instrument C, which is passed therethrough from the exterior of the box to release the fastener.

D is the box-lid.

1 designates a hook member, which is preferably in the form of a plate secured to the lid D, and is provided with a downwardly-extending leg 2, that terminates in an upturned lip 3.

4 designates the body of a catch member. The catch member 4 is formed of wire doubled throughout its body and the upper loop end of which is bent, as shown, to constitute a hook 5, adapted to engage the lip 3 of the hook member 1 to connect the catch member to the hook member. At the lower end of the catch memberare two outturned leg-arms 6, one extending from one of the portions of the doubled body of the catch member and the other extending from the other member of said leg-arms 6 extend at angles to the axis of the doubled catch-member body 4, as seen in Fig. 4, whereby they are arranged in planes differentiated from said body. When the catch member is to be applied to the wall of the atent NO. 742,563, dated October 27, 1903.

Serial No. 148,008. (No model.)

box that receives it, the ends of the leg-arms 6 are positioned against the box-wall, to which they incline from the plane of the catch-member body, as seen in fulllines, Fig. 4. Staples 7 or equivalent securing means are then driven into the box-wall to straddle the leg-arms 6 at or near their junctions with the portions of the catch-member body, as seen in Fig. 1, and thereby the previously-outstanding inner portions of the leg-arms are carried inwardly to the box-wall, While the terminations of the arms remain in contact with the wall. On carrying the previously-outstanding inner portions of the leg-arms to the boxwall and fastening such portions thereat the spring action of the arms thus produced Will afford resilience by which the body 4 of the catch member and its hook 5 are spring-held toward the wall of the box to cause said hook to engage and be retained in engagement With the lip 3 of the hook'member 1 when the lid of the box is in closed position. In the act of closing the lid D the hook-member lip rides down the inclined upper end of the catch-member hook 5, thereby forcing the catch member rearwardly to permit the pas,- sage of said lip beneath the catch-member hook, Whi h subsequently springs into position above the lip to engage and retain it.

8 is a keeper, preferably a staple, which `str'addles the body of the catch member and serves to limit its rearward movement in the act of disengaging the parts of the fastener. To disengage the catch-member hook from the hook-member lip, it is only necessary to introduce an implementsuch as that, C, shown in Fig. l-through the wall-orifice B, and bypressing against the catch member it is forced rearwardly to free it from the hook member.

I claim as my invention'- 1. In abox-fastener, a catch member comprising a single piece of wire bent upon itself to form a body member and spring leg-arms projecting from opposite sides of the body member at one end in the same plane there- With and at angles other than right angles thereto, and means securing the catch member to the box near the junction of the spring leg-arms and the body member, leaving the ends of said leg-arms free.

2. In a box-fastener, the combination with ICO a hook member carried by the top of the box ber, said leg-arms being free at their ends, ro and upon the inside thereof and having a and means securing the catch member upon downwardly-extending leg provided with an theinside of the box, and embracingsaid memnpturned lip, of a catch member comprising ber near the junction of the body portion and 5 a body portion extending upwardly toward the spring leg-arms.

the topof the box and having at its lower CHARLES W. BEEHLER. end spring leg-arms lying against the Walls In presence 0fof the box and extending downwardly at; an E. S. KNIGHT,

angle to the body portion of the catch mem- M. P. SMITH. 

